Las Vegas Showgirl's Nightmare

Las Vegas Showgirl's Nightmare

It all started with two coats of L'Oréal Resist and Shine #739, the most gorgeous cool gold you'll ever see. Unfortunately, every single Resist and Shine polish I've tried ends up bubbling like a mofo, and this one was no exception. The finished product here is an attempt to hide those ugly bumps - the sponged on purple microglitter did conceal the vast majority of them, and since I had gone through all that trouble, I decided to finally make some use of my large selection of (plastic) rhinestones. Garish, yes, but I couldn't stop looking at my nails during the whole two days that the stones stayed on.

Spectra Shield franken

Franken - Spectra Shield, 2 coats

This simple yet super pretty franken is definitely one of my favourite concoctions ever. Spectra Shield consists of a nearly full bottle of Flormar Supershine Miracle Colors U16, a few scoops of SpectraFlair fine grade pigment and a few drops of (any generic) dark purple shimmer polish. It's a fair bit more holo IRL than in my pics, and perhaps slightly more purple than in the first couple of pictures.

Layla Magneffect Glamour Lilac & Galaxy Silver

 Layla - Glamour Lilac, 1 coat over grey creme

Oh, Layla Magneffects... you're so beautiful, yet my wallet wails at the sight of you. If you're in Finland, the Magneffects can now be purchased in most Sokos department stores at 15€ a pop. Glamour Lilac, a standard silver with pink to green duochrome flakes, immediately caught my attention so I grabbed it and giddily made my way to the cash registers.

Since my first trials with the actual Layla magnet were a big fat fail, I did as Passion4Polish at MUA suggested - first, I removed the magnet from the cap with an exacto knife, and then stuck it on a piece of flexible plastic (there's no need for using glue as the magnet still has a fair amount of adhesive left on it after you pry it off). This way I could bend the magnet so that it better fits the shape of my nail.

As with most (all?) magnetic polishes you'd better let your mani dry for A LONG TIME before applying your top coat. Trust me on this. If not, the metallic particles will bleed and diminish the effect. I think I waited around for about 30 to 40 minutes before top coat.

 

 Layla - Galaxy Silver, 1 coat over grey creme

I also got Galaxy Silver, which has square silver glitter in a silver base. As with Glamour Lilac, this is one coat over a darkish grey creme base. The base colour will show through (at least) these two polishes, especially if you only apply a thin coat of the magetic polish on top.

Pink gradation & floral nail art stickers

Pink gradation & floral nail art stickers

Hi everyone, I'm back from my hiatus with a mani very that is very "me" - a light pink base with nail art stickers. I started with two coats of a generic white polish, then a coat of Delia No. 1 #206 (a super light semi-opaque pink) after which I sponged on Delia No. 1 #13 (a warm toned opaque mid pink) almost all the way to the cuticle, and Golden Rose Fashion Color #24 (a semi-dark shimmery pink) along the free edge. After adding a few stickers the mani was finished, easy peasy.

Paris Memories #263 & Pastel Manicure M22

Paris Memories - #263, 2 coats

Ahh, my memories of Paris... This jelly-like creme is as beautiful as the city of love itself. The photos reveal that a third coat of polish might have been necessary, but it wasn't nearly as apparent IRL. Unfortunately I'm unable to tell where to find more of Paris Memories' pretty polishes internationally, as I found this one in the Finnish abscure lacquer wonderland Seppälä (who sell clothing, cheap-end makeup and accessories) for a paltry sum of 2,95€.

Paris Memories - #263 & Pastel Manicure - M22, 2 + 1 coats

I chose Pastel Manicure M22, a funky-smelling Chinese eBay curiosity as the layering polish. It's an irridescent glitter lacquer with different sized flakes that flash blue and green - it's very much like Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor, but with a truly sheer base and larger glitter particles.